Gu Su-yeon’s Hard Romanticker Would Love to Pound Your Face In

Hot damn. That’s one seriously violent trailer. The clip for director Gu Su-yeon’s upcoming flick “Hard Romanticker” looks deliciously violent, which is precisely what I’ve come to adore about Japanese cinema. The video features all sorts of head trauma, though the violence isn’t exclusively limited to cranial damage. What’s more, the film appears to have a decidedly dark sense of humor, which may have more to do with the trailer’s score than anything else. You’ll see what I mean in a minute. I’m assuming, of course, that you’re going to watch it.

Hard Romanticker is based on Gu’s semi-autobiographical eponymous novel published in 2001 by Kadokawa Haruki’s imprint. With his hair dyed platinum blonde, Matsuda stars as “Gu,” a second-generation Korean living life as a high school dropout working part-time jobs and getting into violent conflicts on the streets of Shimonoseki. A brutal act of revenge gone wrong sets the story in motion. Gu is tangentially involved at best, but with his paradoxical mix of guilt, cold detachment and violent nihilism he pisses off one too many people and ends up a target of the whole town.

“Hard Romanticker”, which stars Matsuda Shota, Maki Yoko, Watanabe Dai,, Nagayama Kento, and Nakamura Shido, opens in Japan on November 26th, 2011. The aforementioned trailer is hanging out below. Check it out if you’re curious.